I've had this lamp for years. I think it was part of Targets dorm line, and it's just stuck around as a cheap ($19.99) floor lamp since then. Functionally its awesome, you can bend the lights individually any which way, and adjust settings to have less or more lights on at once.
But it totally looks like a dorm lamp.
For about a year I've been casually looking for a good replacement, but guess what?
Floor lamps are crazy expensive.
Who knew?
Such as this guy from Restoration Hardware.
Rather than fret about it anymore, I thought "hey, take off the shades of my lamp, paint it black: voila! Cool lamp"
So that's what I did.
{You will need}
Mask
Masking tape
Matte black spray paint
Sandpaper
Take off the shades (aka dust catching cones of fury) by unscrewing the black ring in the middle.
Set rings aside, give cones to bored children.
Tape up the sockets. I'm not sure what would happen if you spray paint a light socket, but it's probably not great...
Lay down some newspaper under the rings and base of lamp. After following directions on paint can (shake*shake*shake*), start painting!
Wait an hour after your first coat and apply a second. After that dries, un-tape the sockets, screw on the rings, and sand down a bit of the edges for an antiqued look. After some use the paint is wearing off on it's own in places, so if you don't want that to happen look into a finishing spray.
Add bulbs (I used 25 watt vanity bulbs), or you can even buy the vintage filament bulbs from Restoration, but I think I like these better!
And there you have it! Took me a single morning, cost under $30 (including a few bulbs), and I even like it more than the $600 one.
If your decor is more of a glamorous nature, this would be great in a shiny gold, just skip the sanding. Or colors! Really once you take the shades off it's a blank canvas.
Happy decorating!
